Polymorphism: handling an array of objects java

1. Since both arrays are of same length, you have to decide how to handle an array element that doesn't contain a decimal number. For example, the interned String object "Nothing here at all" doesn't contain any numerical values, so once we process the string, it will return a null value.

2. Shallow copy: since the field is a primitive type (double), use the = operator to assign its value to the array at the right index.

3. You can change the code easily to implement the use of a Scanner to scan the String for numbers as required. Create a new scanner object and pass the string you're processing in the constructor.

/**
 * Output:
 * Single obj: 2.4
 * Single obj: 3.6
 * List obj: 3.2 6.8
 * Data obj: null
 * List obj: 1.2 7.9 4.5
 * List obj: 1.0 2.0 3.0
 * Single obj: 9.8
 *
 * @author martinfall
 */
public class TestData {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Given
        Object[] mixedData = {
            new Single(2.4),
            "The data is 3.6",
            new List(new double[]{3.2, 6.8}),
            "Nothing here at all",
            new List(new double[]{1.2, 7.9, 4.5}),
            "Anda 1 anda 2 anda 3",
            new Single(9.8)};

        // Convert mixedData and assign the result to a Data array
        Data[] arr = convert(mixedData);

        // Print to console (Not required but helpful to see the output of each obj)
        for (Data datum : arr) {
            if (datum instanceof Single) {
                System.out.print("Single obj: ");
                System.out.println(((Single) datum).value); // Can encapsulate
            } else if (datum instanceof List) {
                System.out.print("List obj: ");
                for (double num : ((List) datum).arr) {
                    System.out.print(num + " ");
                }
                System.out.println();
            } else {
                // Since required that both arrays be equal size,
                // not sure how to handle an element of mixedData that doesn't
                // contain any decimal numbers
                System.out.println("Data obj: " + datum);
            }
        }
    }

    public static Data[] convert(Object[] objects) {
        // Find the length of objects and assign it to MAX_LIST_SIZE
        final int MAX_LIST_SIZE = objects.length;

        // Create a new array of Data objects using the length of objects
        Data[] arr = new Data[MAX_LIST_SIZE];

        // Loop throught the array and copy each element as required
        for (int i = 0; i < MAX_LIST_SIZE; i++) {
            if (objects[i] instanceof Single) {
                arr[i] = (Data) objects[i]; // Shallow copy
            } else if (objects[i] instanceof List) {
                arr[i] = (Data) objects[i];
            } else if (objects[i] instanceof String) {
                // Since both arrays have to be the same length, we have to add
                // the null value that is returned if a string doesn't contain
                // a numerical value
                arr[i] = processString((String) objects[i]);
            }
        }
        return arr;
    }

    public static Data processString(String str) {
        // Regular expression to match double values
        String regex = "^[-+]?\\d*(\\.\\d+)?$";
        // Counter variable to use to find out if list or single is returned
        int count = 0;
        // Create a blank Data variable
        Data d = null;
        // Split the String
        String[] split = str.split(" ");

        // Determine if Single or List
        for (String s : split) {
            if (s.matches(regex)) {
                count++;
            }
        }

        // If count is 1, return a Single
        if (count == 1) {
            for (String s : split) {
                if (s.matches(regex)) {
                    d = new Single(Double.parseDouble(s));
                }
            }
        } else if (count > 1) {
            // Create a new array as large as count
            double[] arr = new double[count];
            // Index of arr
            int arrIndex = 0;
            for (String s : split) {
                if (s.matches(regex)) {
                    arr[arrIndex] = Double.parseDouble(s);
                    arrIndex++;
                }
            }
            d = new List(arr);
        }
        return (Data) d;
    }
}